On Wednesday 22 October, several MEPs called for an European Parliament committee of enquiry to be set up to shed light on suspicions that Hungary was spying on European institutions when the current Commissioner, Olivér Várhelyi, headed Hungary’s permanent representation to the EU (see EUROPE 13733/15).
The European Commission has launched an internal investigation following press reports alleging that the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, had a network of intelligence agents spy on European Union institutions in Brussels for years. This also included spies within the Hungarian Permanent Representation to the EU, which was headed at the time by the current European Commissioner for Health.
“Commissioner Várhelyi should have been suspended immediately, pending an in-depth investigation”, said Sophie Wilmès (Renew Europe, Belgian). She called for a committee of enquiry to be set up that could look into Hungary’s alleged spying operations.
This request was also made by Terry Reintke (Greens/EFA, German), who also called on Member States to act by suspending Hungary’s voting rights in the EU Council, in application of Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union.
The group The Left has called for the resignation of Olivér Várhelyi.
Juan Fernando López Aguilar (S&D, Spanish) pointed out that the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, had access to a legal tool in the EU Treaty enabling her to “force a Commissioner to resign if they do not live up to their office”. According to Birgit Sippel (S&D, German), there will have to be clear consequences, including “at the highest level of the Commission”.
For Zoltán Tarr (EPP, Hungarian), “a new scandal by Orbán’s outgoing government casts a new shadow over our country”.
The European Commissioner for the Budget, Anti-Fraud and Public Administration, Piotr Serafin, assured MEPs that the President of the Commission “takes this matter very seriously”. He went on to say that, “these alleged incidents undermine the principle of loyal cooperation between Member States and EU institutions”. Even though the investigations have not yet been completed, “I can assure you that the Commission will raise its concerns with the Hungarian Government at all levels. We are fully committed to devoting our continued efforts to protect the security of the Commission”, he concluded. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)